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Man sentenced for child sex assault

A 68-year-old man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was sentenced and prosecutors say there may be more victims who haven't come forward.

KETV-TV reports, a Pottawattamie County judge sentenced Bobby Ervin Smith to 20 years in prison and ordered him to be supervised by corrections officers for the rest of his life.

"It was wrong. It should have never happened. I'll pay for it. Not here, but with the lord, forever," Smith said.

Judge Greg Steensland, who scolded Smith in court Monday, called the evidence overwhelming against Smith, who was convicted in November of sexually abusing a boy in 1998.

"You violated one of the most sacred trusts a person could have. You were a mentor to a 12-year-old boy," Steensland said. "That is one of the greatest violations this society could ever every think of, and the fact that you did it through your church is even worse."

The victim, now 27, told investigators that Smith assaulted him at a Council Bluffs motel during a fishing trip in 1998.

Smith knew him through his role as a youth coordinator at First Baptist Church in Harlan; however, the fishing trip was not part of a church activity.

Prosecutor Dan McGinn hopes this is the first of many convictions.

"We have reason to believe there are a lot of other victims," McGinn said.

Prosecutors urge any possible victims to go to the authorities.

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